Lawmakers Have ‘Concerns’ on Pesticide Immunity Bill

By Cami Koons

At a press conference Tuesday, Rep. Megan Srinivas, D-Des Moines, said her colleagues on both sides of the aisle have concerns with a bill that would protect pesticide companies from certain lawsuits. 

Senate File 394, advanced from the Senate Floor last week and now awaits action from the House. 

Srinivas, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee where the bill will likely be assigned, said the potential correlation between glyphosate, the chemical in the popular pesticide Roundup, and cancer is driving much of the unease with the bill. 

Srinivas said these issues have also been brought up by constituents at a series of bipartisan “cancer listening posts” held across the state. 

“It’s time that we say no to this bill,” Srinivas said. “That we say Iowans are far more important than anything else in the state. Cancer — it’s not a Republican issue, it’s not a Democrat issue, it’s an Iowan issue.”

The press conference was organized by Iowa Food & Water Watch and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, who have previously organized a rally in opposition to the bill. 

Ava Auen-Ryan, a community organizer with Iowa CCI said “hundreds” of Iowans have engaged in this issue this year because of the widespread impacts of cancer in the state and because “people don’t want Bayer writing the rules in our state.” 

Michaelyn Mankel with Iowa Food & Water Watch said the bill is “decisively unpopular” among Iowans.

Proponents of the bill argue it will stop expensive lawsuits from targeting pesticide companies that are following the labeling requirements outlined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

According to the lobbying group Modern Ag Alliance, which has sponsored advertisements across the state about the bill, Iowa farmers save an estimated $612 million in production costs by using glyphosate. Modern Ag Alliance alleges that without the bill, farmers would not have access to the popular pesticide.

Central to the bill is Bayer, the manufacturer and distributor of Roundup, who has already spent more than $10 billion settling lawsuits where plaintiffs allege the chemical gave them cancer. The company stands to benefit from the bill because it would stop plaintiffs from suing under “failure to warn claims,” but Bayer is not the only pesticide manufacturer that would benefit.

Jess Christiansen, the head of crop science and sustainability communications at Bayer, said the bill is “really about upholding the label and the process.” 

Bayer holds that Roundup, and glyphosate, are safe products subject to “rigorous” testing, and that testing bodies have found “no link” to cancer. 

Christiansen called the progress of the bill in Iowa “fabulous” and said Bayer applauds the Iowa Senate for its “support of the farmers and the state of Iowa.”

“We’re really hopeful that the House will keep it moving,” Christiansen said.

The bill must be eligible for debate on the House floor by Thursday, or meet an exception, to survive the legislature’s self-imposed, second “funnel” deadline.

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